Leonel woke up with Aina on his chest.
After finis.h.i.+ng his training, he didn't hurry to do things with the Tentacle Womb or other faction building things because after a while, he suddenly felt the need to just spend time with Aina.
When his Spear Force perfected its fusion with the final stage of his grandfather's path of the spear, Leonel mind entered an odd state of relaxation where he suddenly understood that understanding himself was even more important than understanding individual Forces.
Anastasia's words, when taken to the logical extreme, precisely meant these things.
Ultimately, just like with his Spear Force, the "life" of his Forces didn't come from them, but rather himself. While they all had their own preferences and leanings, they were ultimately in his control.
Running was always designed to be faster than running. By the same token, throwing was always designed to move things from your hand into a further distance. The same a.s.signments could be made for walking, swimming, talking…
Any one of these activities were things everyone and almost everything did naturally. They all also had the same exact purposes, regardless of who was executing them. However, did any two individuals do them the exact same way?
Leonel had come to understand that he should treat Force in this way as well.
When he used Force, he actively did something that was the equivalent of running, or walking, or swimming, or even talking. However, he had always treated it as an external thing, not putting enough time and attention into them, much the same way that anyone could run, walk, swim or talk, but not everyone could do these things as effectively as another.
And the root to reaching prominence in these facets was to first understand oneself.
When it came to walking, you learned through trial and error as a child. When it came to running, you did the same thing. For swimming, it was the same once again, and it was even the same for talking.
All of these things were forgotten by most as they happened so early on in life, but Leonel could remember those memories clearly. He could remember every failed attempt and reattempt. He could remember how he had to learn to s.h.i.+ft his balance to adjust to his own body, not the other way around.
Likewise, if he wanted to understand these Forces, he would have to learn about himself as he learned about these Forces.
When he came to that conclusion, Leonel chose to relax.
He awoke Aina from her meditation and brought her to leisurely stroll around the Segmented Cube. Aina was confused at first and didn't quite understand what the point of this was, but she realized it was rare for her to spend this kind of leisurely time with Leonel, at least not without someone or something wanting them to die.
As time pa.s.sed, she completely forgot that she didn't understand what was going on and why Leonel did this and simply smiled, enjoying her time with him.
The relations.h.i.+p between Leonel and Aina had always been one of fiery pa.s.sion and emotion. They danced between life and death, and even when they weren't, they were completely immersed in their training.
There was nothing to see in the Segmented Cube aside from the beautiful ambience of nature, and yet it was so novel to them to casually view such sights that it was endlessly fascinating.
The two talked endlessly, saying and talking about anything for days that quickly turned into over a week. And when they ran out of things to talk about, they simply felt silent. They didn't feel the need to fill the quiet air, the soft sounds of their breathing was enough.
This was the closest moment to normal the two had received since the Metamorphosis descended. It was hard to fathom but since that last day of high school, the two of them had never had even a single moment of rest.
It was always battle after battle, war after war, death threat after death threat.
Very soon, they would likely have to return to such a life, but at least for now, they felt at peace.
Leonel reached down from Aina's waist and pinched her a.s.s, causing her to stir awake.
She slapped Leonel's hand away and adjusted herself on his chest before falling asleep again.
Leonel laughed to himself. Alright, one more day wasn't too bad.
Although the two of them hadn't crossed that final step yet, he had definitely made this little vixen pay for her earlier arrogance.
Leonel wasn't very disappointed about this fact. Every time he and Aina seemed about to cross that line, it was always due to a state of fiery pa.s.sion. The first time it was because Aina didn't want to lose Leonel, the second time the two of them were made at one another's approach to dealing with danger, and the third and most recent time, Aina had had a large amount of Leonel's blood in her system.
After these days of calm and leisure, while that pa.s.sion wasn't as fiery, it burned a lot more like an eternal fire, one that would last a lifetime.
When that flame did finally boil over, he was sure that it would be worth the wait.
**
After one more day, as promised, Leonel and Aina finally left the Segmented Cube, crossing over the Void Battlefield as they made their way toward the Void Palace.
With the speed of the Segmented Cube, they crossed over large distances without much issue, shuttling through vast amounts of Anarchic Force as though it wasn't there at all.
Half a month later, they made it to large gates once again, facing a vast mountain range that was several planets' widths wide.
However, the state of the Void Palace wasn't like what Leonel remembered at all. Matched with its imposingness, a b.l.o.o.d.y scent hung in the air. In fact, what once were majestic gates that no one had to care about guarding because the prestige of the Void Palace was impregnable now had permanently stationed troops.
As a result, the arrival of Leonel and AIna didn't go unnoticed.